Global Pathways Jewelry

Mar 20

BURLINGTON, VT

In their own words

“We’re a small independent jewelry store in downtown Burlington. I have five talented jewelers that work for me. I like traditional stone cutting. Sometimes people will bring us a rock they found on top of the local peak called Camel’s Hump and ask, ‘Could you do something with this?’ We can polish it and turn it into something beautiful.”

-Tim Pratt

Jason’s Interview with Tim

Jason

We're back on Meet the Jewelers and today we're talking to Tim Pratt from Global Pathways in Burlington, Vermont. What made you decide to open the store?

Tim

It was in the early 90s. I was working in the ski industry and I was a welder - a chairlift mechanic. I took a leave of absence in the spring. I would look at different pieces of jewelry and art. I made the realization, I have the educational skills. If I buy smaller tools, I could make this stuff. That's how I started in the jewelry industry. That was 26 years ago now and we're a small independent jewelry store right on Church Street, kind of a pedestrian area in downtown Burlington. I've got five really talented jewelers that work for me. I have learned so much from those young ladies.

+ Keep reading

University of Vermont is our college right here in town, had a fine metals program. I would see these young folks and pluck them right out of that program. Some of these same folks have worked for me for 10 to 15 years now. We're a family.

Jason
Was there ever a point where you thought to yourself being a jeweler isn't for you?

Tim
Not really. I've always enjoyed making things, taking things apart, putting things back together. Like a lot of people in this world, when I started this business, I too had a young family, so failure was not really an option. Here we are 26 years later and we're doing just fine. Is it challenging? Absolutely. Every day it is. But that's kind of what keeps me coming to work. I love fixing things. That's a big part of our business, restoration of older pieces, as well as newer contemporary things.

Jason
We all have some of those favorite things we love to create. What's a piece that you enjoy creating the most?

Tim
I really like cutting, traditional stone cutting. We're also a mineral shop, so we find minerals and crystals. Rough stone. I like to take things that are rough and tweak them around and then turn them into something that's fine. One of the local peaks here in Vermont is Campbell's hump. Sometimes people will bring us a rock that they find on top of Campbell's hump and say, “Could you do something with this?”

Jason
Is there one piece of jewelry you’re extremely proud of?

Tim
I am really proud of our Green Mountain rings. I’ll take pictures from clients of a skyline or a particular mountain range. I say the Green Mountains because that's our mountain range here in Vermont. We've done mountain ranges all over the world. We'll take that picture and then we'll engrave it onto a ring. So that's probably one of my favorite pieces and we make those quite often for people. We have some really talented engravers that we work with. Sometimes we'll put a little star diamond or a moon. They are a lot of fun.

Jason
What did you want to be when you grew up?

Tim
I grew up in the north with a really strong skiing background. I was a ski racer in my younger days. I lived and breathed the mountains. Mountain lifestyle and skiing. It still is a big part of my life. I really enjoy the outdoors and that's why I have chosen to live here.

Jason
What drew you to be a jeweler?

Tim
I like to call it the school of hard knocks. I took a trip to the GIA in California to take some classes to get a little more insight, a little more formal. It was pretty eye-opening to me. That was really inspiring to see, just to see that operation and to see that type of expertise in the craft.

Jason
What's your life like outside of the store?

Tim
I love my family. I spend a lot of time with my family as a result of this business. It's given me the opportunity to travel quite a bit. This little brick-and-mortar jewelry store’s taken me all over. It's really enjoyable to take off and go to Asia, go to someplace for a couple of weeks and source stones, learn about how they do things, how they make things. It’s inspiring sometimes how people can make things so beautiful with very little equipment. Sometimes, especially in developing countries, there's super talented people out there and I like being around them and talking with them.

Jason
There's been a huge shift in how people buy. For people like us who need to keep things fresh and on-trend, how do you adapt to meet the needs of customers?

Tim
It's challenging. We were just talking this morning, a little strategy meeting about what to do, more listings, more pictures, more information. All of it’s important. It's definitely challenging and different than it once was. There has been a revolution in the way people of all ages source, price, evaluate purchases. I do the same thing. It's just the way of the world. We're adapting, slowly but surely.

Jason
I want to know how you do things differently. People on Meet the Jewelers, when they're trying to decide where to go in and around Burlington. Give it a shot.

Tim
I think what makes us different is we have thousands of stones and minerals here in the shop that people can look through. The color is just amazing. Every color is represented here. I love to be able to show people all sorts of colors, for instance, a sapphire can have so many different colors. And, sure, Grandma's blue sapphire is still a beautiful stone, but there's a lot of other natural colors of sapphires out there. It can be overwhelming sometimes, it’s nice to have options. It’s thousands and thousands of different choices.

Jason
Do you just love what you do each day?

Tim
It makes me happy. I like what I do each day. I like to provide a service for the community. It doesn't really matter if somebody walks in the store and asks us to replace a junk ring or build them a wedding ring. We treat them both the same. I thoroughly enjoy speaking, talking to people, learning their stories, and helping them with any other projects.

Jason
You do so much for the community. Tell us a few of the highlights.

Tim
Everybody that works here, we all live here by choice because we're into Vermont. We like the lifestyle of Vermont. The casualness of the community. My sense of community here in Burlington. I wouldn't have it any other way. I’ve been working with a little clinic in Nicaragua. I have some land in Nicaragua that I enjoy going to. We've helped with a nice little clinic to help them with some ambulances down there.

Jason
This is your chance to say whatever you like to Meet the Jewelers.

Tim
I want to shout out to my employees because they're the ones that make it all doable for us.